Giant Steps

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Chapter One

Giant Steps

At 5.30am on Thursday the 6^th of September my frog alarm went off. That was it, the day that had taken so long to arrive that it no longer felt real. Even now, fifteen long hours later and somewhere unknown between Amsterdam and Guangzhou I’m still unsure what I’m actually doing on the plane. Despite planning this since February the nerves and emotions have now taken over and created a fear of the unknown which I am currently hurtling towards at 33,000 feet.

So, why China? Good question. I have just been given some darn good noodles but I’m genuinely unsure ‘why China?’ Hopefully soon I will be able to answer this question with a more satisfying response! At a glance, China is a relatively safe country and from other travelers, mainly Caz Browne, I have heard nothing but positive things! It’s a good opportunity to live somewhere new and I’ve heard they drink tea a lot. Always a bonus.

The family seems keen on a visit despite that my dad insits he will waste away as he will not be able to eat any Chinese food! He, my Mam, Uncle John and Auntie Christine ordered Chinese takeout for the first time in 25 years to see if they could find something tasty! No such luck!

Because of the distance of China (around 5000miles from the UK) my Mam suggested meeting ‘in the middle’. Our Kay did a few taps on her laptop to see where is about 2-3000 miles from either side; ‘Right, you have Pakistan, Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan’. I’m not sure which we are going for.

It does make me sad to know how far away from home I’ll be but I realize how lucky I am to have people in my life that I love so much that they actually make me question my decisions to travel. I also know that I would not let these feelings stop me and, what’s more, they would not want me to stop.

Except for on goodbye days.

I’m always touched by the kindness of random strangers at airports when you have tears rolloing own your checks, even the security guard that frisked my was nice! There was a lot of tears this morning, a lot of ‘last hugs’, as if that one small denial of it being time to go by having one more embrace will have the power to prevent the inevitable from actually occurring.

Eventually it was time to take those few small steps through passport control. As I looked back to see my mam crying in my dad’s arms I knew those steps were anything but small.

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